Sjoerd Cooijmans started his career at Reed Elsevier (recently rebranded RELX) as an intern back in the early 00s. Having moved between 14 roles in three different countries, Sjoerd has enjoyed an exciting, international career with the global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools. In this fascinating interview, Sjoerd reflects on his career milestones, the value of working with true purpose and why uncomfortable situations can be a blessing in disguise.

Looking back, has there ever been a leader or manager that’s really influenced your career path?

In the very early days of my HR career working in Amsterdam, I was placed with a manager I didn’t click with – and in the end, I decided to look for another job. I was offered a ‘Head of HR’ role where I’d be responsible for 500 people in the Netherlands – a pretty cool opportunity considering I was only about 30 years old at the time! I jumped at the opportunity and handed in my resignation. Shortly after, however, my manager’s peer in the UK reached out and asked me if I’d consider staying with the company, moving to England and working for him instead, on a secondment at the famous medical journal, The Lancet. As scary as it was to uproot my life and move, I accepted – and ironically, that led me to the best manager I’ve ever had (plus, eventually, my wife!). To this day, I feel grateful for that. It taught me that no place, role or person is a jail – if you’re not happy, it’s up to you to make a change.

What was it about this particular manager’s leadership style that resonated with you?

Despite the level he was at, he was just a normal guy – so down to earth and nonpolitical. He wanted to do a good job, he genuinely cared a lot about people and he was heaps of fun. He took a risk on me and gave me the autonomy I wanted and needed – not just once, but twice, as he moved me over to New York to take on a role there, even though I wasn’t local to the region. The confidence he had in me ultimately made me believe in myself, and although the process of moving wasn’t easy, professionally or personally, I’ll always feel incredibly privileged to have the opportunity to work internationally. That’s also the big benefit of working for big global organisations – if you’re willing to take opportunities when they arise, they can be a real ‘playground’ for your career!

Tell us what excites you about working for RELX?

There are so many things. First, having the opportunity to live and work in London and New York for almost 10 years has been an amazing experience on many levels. The company I joined over two decades ago has grown and evolved so much – from scientific publishers Elsevier to the multi-divisional, high-performing FTSE 100 global company that is RELX. I remember reading an article during the early days of the Internet that predicted which companies would fold due to an increasingly online world – and Reed-Elsevier was number one. People believed that, as content would become freely available online, publishers like us would become surplus to requirement. What no one factored in was that – especially when you’re building platforms for analytics in the medical or research world – the quality of content is everything. The opposite turned out to be true. If you’re prescribing a pill, the difference between 0.1 and 1.0 can mean life or death!

I’m so proud to be part of an organisation that safeguards information in this way – a company full of smart people, whose content is the most trusted in the world and whose work genuinely changes people’s lives. Having a purpose that matters makes a big difference: we don’t sell insurance, beer or sausages – we sell professional, legal and scientific data. In the era of AI, data is gold.

Looking at current and future advancements in technology, how do you see AI impacting both your business and the HR function at RELX?

Interestingly, once again, people have been predicting the demise of organisations like RELX due to AI. You may need to catch up with me in five years to tell me I was completely wrong, but for me, AI isn’t some big threat. It’s just technology – and technology is nothing without reliable content. That’s the fuel for AI. That’s not to say there aren’t huge possibilities with it. For us, putting AI on top of the biggest pile of trusted information in the world is going to have some incredible benefits. It’ll be able to identify links between different pieces of research and in our medical division, it’ll be able to accurately define relations between drug interactions in seconds. If you think about it, relying entirely on one doctor’s brain is kind of risky – plus there are still huge parts of the world where reliable healthcare is still inaccessible for many. AI will eventually have the capability to clone expertise in a way that solves those problems and furthers the contributions we make to society and the communities in which we operate.

As far as generative AI goes, I’m curious to see what the future holds – especially in the HR space. Myself and other Heads of EMEA met in London a month or so and we looked at how AI can help us source the best recruits, whether that’s internally or externally, as well as help us with more every day, transactional tasks – benefits, policies, etc. Once again, though, you can only make use of AI if you get your house in order first. I sometimes think that HR functions have a tendency to be over-complicated operationally. If you have six sets of competencies for one role, for example, even AI won’t be able to figure it out. So if we’re first able to simplify and streamline what we do, the opportunities to boost engagement and save costs using AI could be huge – and even more so on the business side, in developing new time/resource-saving products and services.

Then if you think about it, there are all the other more subtle outcomes you wouldn’t necessarily expect – for example, they’ve found out that people talk more openly and truthfully to AI than they would a doctor or a psychologist, which leads to better diagnosis, better treatment and better health outcomes. It’s fascinating stuff.

Finally, a bit of personal insight – what’s your favourite motto or allegory when it comes to life and work?

My most important job is being a dad and I’m always reading stories together with my 7 and 8-year-old children. There’s one called The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy, and in it, there’s a quote that really sticks with me both personally and professionally: “One of the greatest freedoms we have is how we react to things”. Going back to what we discussed at the beginning, you don’t always have a choice in a lot of areas – how many emails you receive, who your manager is, and what might be thrown at you out of the blue (especially true in HR). What you can control is how you deal with those things. I think teaching these interpretative skills to our kids is going to be vital as they navigate the mental health challenges of growing up with social media, and all the pressures they face in their social relationships with peers at school. And then later, with the stresses we all encounter in the workplace.

Another favourite quote comes, again, from a children’s book – The Big Panda and the Tiny Dragon by James Norbury. There’s a moment in there where the characters ask, “What’s more important – the journey or the destination?” And the tiny dragon says, “The company you keep along the way”. That’s so true, especially when I think about the team I work with – we have so much fun together. And as global colleagues, we’re always learning from one another as a natural consequence of cultural, language and communication differences. It’s been one of the most fascinating parts of my journey here and it’s something I’m always aware of in the way I lead my team.

Last of all (and this is particularly relevant to me right now – in the early days of a new head of HR for EMEA role and still working everything out!) – if a role change doesn’t scare you a bit, don’t do it. It’s that edge of fear, that element of the unknown, that adrenaline that will ultimately push you, develop you and bring the fulfilment you look for in your career journey.

Thank you to Sjoerd for speaking to Katie Insley, Associate Director in our Human Resources recruitment team in the Netherlands. 

Views and opinions contained within our Executive Interviews are those of the interviewee and not views shared by EMEA Recruitment. 

Johannes Bäckman is Vice President, Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) at Husqvarna Group. Prior to this, he established E.F. English First in China and further developed his career at firms including Xylem Inc. and Loomis.

Here, Johannes discusses Husqvarna Group’s company culture, sustainability initiatives and innovations. He provides insight into the onboarding process and how job seekers can stand out from the crowd.

What is the most rewarding part of your role?

The most rewarding part is that there’s lots of variation and learning. When you’re working in M&A, you address areas of your strategy, areas of improvement and how to get to the desired position quicker.

A lot of my work is with external companies; trying to understand new businesses and see how they would fit with Husqvarna Group. I get to know new people too. That exposure to the external environment and the future-looking environment fits me well. I like that a lot.

What risks have you taken throughout your career? Have these helped you get to where you are?

It probably starts in my early childhood, with my parents. They were teachers and that meant we always had a lot of books at home. They influenced a specific choice that led me to where I am today. At 16, I wanted to go away for an exchange year abroad. I looked at New Zealand specifically because geographically it was as far away as you can possibly get from Sweden.

I asked my dad, what do you think? And then he said, “Well, Johannes, I think you should go somewhere where there are as few white people as possible.” So, I ticked the box with Asia. That started it all and I became an exchange student in Thailand, living in the countryside with a Thai family whom I am still in contact with. They were of Chinese heritage, leading me to want to study Chinese as well – that I did.

Asia was growing, it's a good place to be and it's good to know these languages. I added a bit of business education on top of that, but it all started with having an interest in learning, and that curiosity put me in a good place.

If there was something you could change in your career, what would it be and why?

I have always had a plan. I studied Asian languages because I wanted to work in Asia, and I planned to study business too so I would be employable. Right out of university there was a big financial crisis, and nobody was hiring. I was very lucky; I took another job working for the government. I worked for the cabinet during a reformation of the education system for universities. That was my first M&A experience.

I was responsible for carving out two publicly owned universities from the state and privatizing them, so that was my first step into restructuring. A university is not a corporate business but carving out an entity, making it independent, and working with top lawyers at the time structuring that transaction was a very early learning experience. I haven't regretted anything. Theoretically, of course, I didn’t plan to work for the government, but it turned out well.

What would you say is a personal highlight from your career?

I have always had this desire to start something from scratch. I got to do that as the first manager for a company called E.F. English First, which I started from scratch in the 90s. It's a well-known privately held language school in China; last time I checked it had about a million students, so seeing where that went is fantastic.

It was lots of fun and something I wanted to do. The experience was really rewarding and it's nice to see what it has become. Personally the greatest satisfaction is to see your children grow up, but from a career perspective, that has been really satisfying.

Could you tell me a little bit about the company culture at Husqvarna Group?

It's an old company, founded in 1689. It’s still vital with innovation at the heart of the company throughout that time. Every year there’s an innovation day in Huskvarna which is the company’s main site and our engineers show off their latest creations. On occasions such as these, the pride and dedication among our colleagues are unmistakable.

Nowadays, we mainly focus on outdoor equipment for lawn care and irrigation, and we're now innovating in that space as well. We have auto-mowers - essentially low-energy robots - that take care of your lawn as you sleep. They also save water for consumers through smart irrigation systems.

The company has a very informal and caring culture, utilising a first-name basis with a very flat structure between the CEO and other employees, so it's very easy to feel at home here.

There are loads of people and you need to get to know them to be efficient and effective; it takes multiple networks.

What are three to five key drivers to success at Husqvarna Group that you look for in employees?

As a business, we must think about the customers and solve their problems to drive our business forward. At the heart of our strategies is sustainable innovation - and sustainability is not a gimmick, it's something we build our business on. That is important for our customers, so we look for people who understand that and can fit into our culture.

You need to have a skill set but it comes down to your personality and who you are to be able to thrive in our company. Of course, there are some formal evaluations of people who enter the company, but you have to be personable and thrive in an environment where you must find solutions independently or in your network; nothing comes from the top down.

What excites you about working for Husqvarna Group?

It's the potential I see in the future. We're right to be thinking about reducing energy consumption and how to conserve water through technology. We are aligned with some larger trends in society which involve saving energy, reducing fossil fuel dependence etc. Then you feel that wow, we have a business that is good today but it's going to get even better in the future. That's exciting.

The environment is important. Green spaces are becoming increasingly important for people and their health; sufficient green spaces are required as people move to cities. In Paris, they have a grand scheme to plant a lot of trees and make the city more sustainable, partly to combat climate change but also to improve human health.

What does that onboarding process look like at Husqvarna Group?

I've only hired one person so far, but I had a good introduction. The onboarding was planned out well. Before starting, you get a welcome package, so you can read up on the company and the culture. After that, it is very important to set up a lot of meetings with people because of how it works here.

Whoever I hire needs to be able to build their own network and become a go-to person in the company for their specific skill set. When my colleague joined in March, she would shadow me at meetings. I set up a lot of meetings for her too so she could engage with colleagues 1:1.

Would you say that Sweden is a good country to live in, and if so, why?

Sweden is a fun and interesting place. I'm Swedish and I grew up here, but I also lived abroad for about 13 years of my life; so, I’m partly looking at Sweden from the outside. There's a lot of smart people and smart money here and that's good. It's a great place for families to grow up.

But it's an odd place as the Swedish economy should not work. It's like a bumblebee, it looks very big, and it's got only two little wings, but it keeps afloat somehow. I think partly because of its high-trust society; you don't have too many control functions and we save costs by not checking everything. There’s trust between people and that translates to companies as well, it’s very efficient. Although it is high-cost, with high taxes and a high welfare society, on balance I think it works well.

How does it compare to the other countries you've lived in?

I can't compare it at all as I’ve mainly lived in China. China has a completely different history being a central state for a very long time and has, let's say, a command-and-control culture spanning thousands of years.

I like China and the people, but there is not the same feeling in China, where you trust the people around you – your friends and family – but that's about it. It's a big difference on a societal level. Of course, there are massive differences in your day-to-day life as well.

I have never been unhappy wherever I lived. After a while, you tend to find that people are different in terms of culture, how you do things etc. but once you get beneath the surface you have the same issues, and you can always connect to people.

What advice would you give to someone who's starting their career in Finance?

Stay curious. Finance is a broad topic. It's an important part of what the company does, to provide input on how you're performing, directing investment where it makes the most sense and ensuring your shareholders get a return as well, that's important.

It’s a very broad skill set, and it can be used in other things too. For example, I started working in Finance, then migrated over to business development and later M&A. The toolbox that I acquired from Finance is useful. It's valuable to understand to be able to paint a picture of what's going on today but also the future.

I don't think you have to narrowly focus on the Finance function. If you want, you can become very deeply skilled in Finance, but it can also be fairly broad, and you can make good use of it in various walks of life.

What advice would you offer to a job seeker looking to stand out in the market?

I mentor university students and those on a master’s program at the Stockholm School of Economics. First, you have to get to an interview, so you have to present yourself in a way that shows your skill set but also lets your personality shine through as well.

When I talk to my mentees, we often talk about how they present themselves in CVs and letters, and we talk a lot about who they are and how to become more alive in the letters they send to a company.

If that company is not a good fit, it doesn't matter because recruitment is a matching function. Stay true to yourself as companies are looking for different personalities.

Also, be mindful of the fact that some opportunities open and some close. Nowadays you have to cast a wide net. You can't just target exactly what you want because there might be opportunities out there that you haven't thought about. So, use a broad mindset.

From your perspective, how would you define the role of VP M&A?

M&A is a tool that we use to make our company’s strategy come alive and get to where we want to be, perhaps faster through closing gaps in knowledge or our market position.

We can cut away things that somebody else can be a better custodian for or add attractive products or services to our portfolio. You must know your strategy to work in M&A, they go hand in hand.

My job is to identify those target areas, ensure we have the right M&A process, and move the cases through that process. Part of it is making deliberate transactions. There are multiple hoops you have to jump through but it's working with the organization to help them deliver strategy in a better way.

The real make-or-break in a transaction is integration.  As the M&A team, we are not part of that, so we need to prepare the organisation for that phase. Our specific responsibility is to make the transaction happen. But of course, we need to help people hunt for the right targets aligned to our strategy.

We take the right things through the pipeline and help people deliver value in integration. The beauty of it is the people responsible for integration will learn from that experience and become better at target selection as well.

What would you say the effects of BI and data are on the function, now or in the short to mid-term?

It's an opportunity to deliver more value to our customers. We use many platforms to obtain data on companies and have been exploring AI-driven tools to improve our target selection but I haven't found anything wonderful so far.

If your team know the strategy, they can usually come up with really good ideas. In a way, the AI I’ve used is mainly our people and their knowledge of the market.

I'm very interested in the how communication will work in the future… I’d love to have a chatbot!

Is there a myth in your profession that you want to debunk?

One myth is M&A is a type of deal-making. It’s not, it's a practical set of tools. Maybe if you're in a bank you can make deals happen. But for me at least, M&A is not so much about deal-making.

It's about ensuring that we have the right selection criteria and process, we find the right targets, we do well in buying or selling them, and then integrate them well.

It's not fashionable. It's a process-driven organisation. The process is pretty much the same every time, but the target and the subject matter vary. It is a lot of hard work. Thousands and thousands of details that you have to understand to decide whether important or not.

What would you say is one of the best compliments that you've received in your career?

Compliments from vendors who have said “I fully trust your judgment”. I like to build relationships with them, of course we have our objective in a transaction and we only want to make an evaluation that should be as reasonable as possible. You don't want to pay too much, so it could be an adversarial situation, but I like building relationships with sellers and making sure that they understand that we're not paying an excessive price for their business, it's a reasonable one and we will take good care of their people. Those transactions have worked out well.

For some of my jobs, I've had people that have been selling their businesses as referees and that’s good from a work perspective. You have to look after your interests because it's my job to look after my company's interests. I need to pull as much as possible towards my end of the table.

In the end, people must compromise; you cannot get everything that you want - that's impossible. Navigating those situations well is very important.

Who would you say is the most inspiring person for you in business and why?

There’s no public figure that I particularly admire but I’ve had multiple good managers over the years. For me, a great manager understands what I can do and lets me get on with it without micromanagement. When you have a good open relationship with your manager you can talk about anything.

What are some of the key challenges that Husqvarna Group is going to face regarding sustainability?

We have very specific sustainability targets, undertaking to cut our carbon emissions by 35% by 2025 - not just for the production of our equipment, but where people use our products under ‘Scope Three’. It's much more ambitious than most other companies. Remarkably, we have already surpassed this goal, achieving a reduction of over 50%, which is truly impressive.

The next step for us is to decide on our net-zero plan and when that is going to be. We do have combustion engines as part of our product offering and we’re trying to phase them out where we can or use alternative fuels where we can’t.

A business must think of itself as on a path to net zero because otherwise, your business will not be sustainable. It’s not about being a sustainable business, it’s making your business sustainable. So that’s one part when it comes to emissions. We also have a stated target on innovations to enhance circularity.

Additionally, we make smart controllers for irrigation, saving millions and millions of cubic meters annually. For example, instead of irrigating your lawn or garden when it’s going to rain tomorrow, the smart controller knows it’s going to rain tomorrow and will not use any water today. We also have smart solutions based on measuring soil conditions.

People don’t think about saving water too much because water is a commodity that is a bit too cheap today. I’d like to know the price of 1 litre of water in 2050. I suspect it’s going to be a lot higher. Then of course, if you have technology to save water, you also have a business that is sustainable as well.

What business value have you seen from making sustainability improvements?

If you have a lawn mower with a petrol motor on which you walk behind and push, it creates a lot of emissions… changing that for a low-power robot that uses batteries and smart technology is good from an emission perspective, but it’s also good for our business: we make much more money on the robot than on the walk behind a petrol-driven lawnmower.

Occasionally, we have to sacrifice profitability to be able to cut emissions. In general, moving as much as we can to either battery solutions or smart fuels - or something we don’t exactly know yet – is the way to go.

If you cut logs in the forest all day, you can’t carry the eight packs of batteries needed, so we have to come up with another solution. We know we can’t keep making the same two-stroke motors, so that challenges us to come up with new, smart solutions to solve the customers’ problems.

Do you have anything that you want to add to your Executive Interview that you would like to share?

Just that I really enjoy working for Husqvarna Group, and I think for the people looking for a job, a job is not just a job. You should be somewhere where you feel happy with your colleagues and with what the company is doing, then you can thrive much more. Again, most people have to work but make an effort to find the right place for you.

Thank you to Johannes for speaking to Hanna Gibson, Senior Consultant in our Nordics division.

Views and opinions contained within our Executive Interviews are those of the interviewee and not views shared by EMEA Recruitment. 

Sylwia Workowska Blokhuis is the Director of Accounting at Prologis. Having spent over 16 years building international experience as an accounting professional in publicly listed companies across various industries, she’s a progressive and team-oriented leader.

How did you plan out your career development path?

At an early stage of my life, I knew that Finance & Accounting were areas that I wanted to focus on.  I chose Finance as a major for my studies and was very motivated to start gaining professional experience as soon as possible.

In my fifth year, I asked the Dean’s permission to combine my studies with professional work; that was granted as I’d had very good grades. It gave me some time to explore the professional industry, whether it was the correct choice and direction for me and whether I should proceed with it after I graduate.

It turned out to be the right direction for me; it suited my skill set and personality and kept bringing me joy; so I have continued to pursue it for the past 18 years, taking part in new projects and setting myself ambitious goals.

As I progress, I reassess my career path and strategy; whether I'm still going in the direction I want to be going in to achieve my long-term aims.

How have you managed the changes in your career and the diversity in the sectors that you've worked in as a leader?

I have worked across consumer goods, manufacturing and logistic real estate and have had the great pleasure of working in great companies that focus on their teams, each global leaders in their respective field, who provided me growth opportunities. When I switched roles it was for personal reasons versus work-related ones; and I'm happy that I made those changes because it helped me to grow and to learn about new industries.

The way I approach change is with curiosity, trying to have a learning mindset and staying very open-minded. I want to learn as much as possible about the business: its goals, its strategy, and how my team and I can be the best support.

I also believe that success is never achieved alone. If you want to be successful in what you do, you need to build strong relationships and that usually brings the best results.

How do you retain and develop the talent in the business that you're working in? And can you give me a few examples of when you've had to champion retention?

During times of transformation, the best strategy is to stay connected. Focus on relationships and gaining a strong understanding of your team's needs. What kind of challenges do they face and how can you best help address them?

I also think that using clear, transparent communication and not being afraid to bring bad news is very critical. Sharing a hard truth is ultimately better than a sugar-coated lie. It helps build trust. Just focus on bringing the message constructively.

Business transformations offer the best opportunities to grow and develop because that is when the most change is happening. Exploring through learning and making those new connections is how people grow the most and that keeps them engaged.

If you're trying to create something entirely new, it never comes with zero frustration or a super clear path in front of you. If you have a well-balanced team that has each other’s back and supports each other, they can face any of the frustrations that change brings. When people feel connected, they see a bigger cause and a bigger picture. They tend to understand the reason why things are done a certain way.

We've had a lot of changes in this world and within your industry (COVID, remote working from a cultural perspective, and more recently Ukraine). How do you motivate professionals within your business with all these changes that we've been through and still going through?

It is important to acknowledge that those changes are happening. Don't try to pretend they are not there; they are, and people experience them, and those experiences differ per person. Try to understand individually what people are going through and see how you can help and support them.

In general, I believe in an individual approach, and again being close to people with whom you are working; together you can understand a situation and the best way to support it.

COVID, of course, took some adjustment, but surprisingly both the team and I adapted quite fast to this new situation. We figured out new ways of working together in the remote environment, which meant staying connected even more. I was quite surprised to see how well we thrived in this situation.

We found creative ways to continue achieving our goals through the online environment; it was intensive in one sense but helped us foster a culture and keep the relationships that we’d built prior. Our relationships didn’t suffer in the remote environment, but it took effort to make sure that was the case.

Motivation comes down to a healthy working culture; one that stays connected, and fosters relationships in an environment that allows us to thrive. For me, that means engaging work with growth opportunities, having an impact and being empowered to make a change, great teamwork, but also well-tailored recognition and reward for performance. In my opinion, it’s good balance that keeps people happy in the workplace.

What I appreciate in my surroundings is that we can openly discuss the challenges and work together on solutions. I feel supported by my leadership team, and as explained I'm doing my best to pass on that same support to my teams. That is what gets us through challenging times.

I'm keen to understand the risks that you've taken throughout your career, how have they helped you get to the level that you are at now?

Prologis offers a dynamic environment; each year brings challenges and some type of transformation.

Recently, I agreed to step back from managing one of my teams to allow myself more time to focus on the onboarding of new business lines. I’d managed that team for 10 years and I was very connected with them. But, as you can imagine I knew the process in and out and there were fewer learning opportunities.

It was hard, but it opened countless opportunities for me to get involved and help shape the new business lines, in many cases from scratch. That meant stepping out of my comfort zone.

Every new experience brings risks and it's not easy to let go, but doing so made space for me to grow. In the long run, getting out of that comfort zone is what brings opportunity that helps you progress your career.

How do you manage business partnering and performance management?

Business partnering is a key strategy for my department. Accounting & Finance is a support function but we have to support the business in the right way.

I reach out to our partners proactively, to ensure that we understand each other’s goals, where are we coming from, the challenges that the company faces and how we can support their business decisions by delivering the correct data when it is needed. I think there’s been good progress on being a good business partner and having a good impact.

When it comes to performance management, I’m very much data-driven… the numbers speak volumes. Obviously, I have an Accounting and Finance bias there! I do my homework: present the data, cite sources and be clear in advance on what I want to communicate.

At the same time, a number is just a number, and some numbers need a story to go along with it. I try to understand the root causes of whatever we’re facing and how to address these challenges. I like to have experts from each area, a small team, to work together on tackling particular challenges and get the best expertise on that particular focussed subject.

What would you say is the most memorable moment from your career and why?

One key moment was at an early stage of my career when I became a leader of the team that I was part of. It was quite a step to manage a team where I’d previously been a colleague.

At that stage, a whole new world opened to me. I had to give some thought to what kind of manager I wanted to be and the leadership style that most suited me. That of course, took time, it didn't happen overnight.

It's not something of which you can say “Ok, I’m done. I am now a leader”. Leadership is a journey, and you keep on learning and adjusting at every step of it, including mistakes.

I believe that I learned from them and helped myself grow. I'm happy with the steps that I’ve taken throughout my career and the progress that I’ve made.

What advice would you give to aspiring leaders who want to be in the position that you're in?

Be brave and take that first step. Even if you’re not a born leader, you have to believe in yourself. Those first steps are the hardest, but once you are in that role, you will start learning and developing and progressing through that.

Continually reassess who you are and what kind of leader you want to be. At the same time, accept that you're going to make mistakes. Learn from them and don't be afraid to show vulnerability.

Understand the expertise within the team you have. Rely on it, know your processes and stay hands-on so you can guide, coach and support when needed. Last but not least, maintain communication and transparency for strong relationships. I keep coming back to that - but for me, relationships are key to driving success and you don’t achieve it alone.

The key things we say to those aspiring to get into strategic roles are to network, and never stop learning, define what kind of leader you want to be in the early stages of your career, look at the leaders who motivate you and push forward and make those steps…

Especially at the later stages, where you are in those very elevated roles, these factors impact what kind of leader you are. It's critical to define who you want to be as a leader, that's also how you will to some extent impact and foster the culture of the organisation through that.

Thank you to Sylwia  for speaking to our Finance & Accountancy recruitment team in the Netherlands, led by Hannah Mallia and David Harper.

Views and opinions contained within our Executive Interviews are those of the interviewee and not views shared by EMEA Recruitment. 

Pieter Vogels is the Global Head of HR (Vice President) for pharmaceuticals manufacturer, Siegfried. He is responsible for the global Drug Product cluster, covering 1,800 employees at sites across Switzerland, Germany, Spain, Malta and the US. Pieter began his Human Resources career at Nyrstar and has since worked for RUAG and Dow Inc.

Your LinkedIn shows a dual degree in Software Engineering and HR. What made you choose that combination?

I’ve always been fascinated by technology and how it can drive innovation – in the way we live, work, and connect with the rest of the world. It ignites creativity and expands the boundaries of what people believe is achievable – and its potential is limitless. Process design and digital transformation were key elements of my studies.

That said, I also wanted a people-centric focus and to have an impact on individuals. The best thing about leadership and change management is getting the best out of people and technology – creating a dynamic environment in which they can thrive.

How have the two worlds come together throughout your career?

Now and in past roles, I’ve been involved in HR digital transformation through process re-design, or by implementing everything from individual tools to full system suites. As an HR Business Partner, I would advise on digital transformation within the function and how we could develop people within current or new roles.

By understanding the business needs and culture, I’m better able to identify technology improvements and translate the company’s needs into HR policy. This type of collaboration not only enhances efficiency and data accuracy, it enables HR professionals to focus on strategic initiatives while leveraging technology to support workforce management.

If we want to be successful and have a continued partnership with the business, it’s essential that HR understands the vision of the company and the overall strategy. Where technology plays a key role in improving customer satisfaction, our competitive advantage is ultimately going to be our people.

You mentioned that HR must understand a company’s vision. What does vision mean to you?

To me, it’s an inspiring picture of the future you want to create. It serves as guidance, providing purpose and direction, shaping aspirations and actions towards achieving meaningful goals. A compelling vision outlines where we want to go but also motivates and connects employees in a shared journey of growth and success.

That’s why a company vision is so important. It gives meaning to all the initiatives within that enterprise. If a project or strategies can’t be aligned with the overarching vision, you have to ask yourself, “will this add value?”. “Do we need to reconsider?”

Our global workforce is becoming more critical, questioning companies’ purpose, how they add value and why things are the way they are. I think this is a healthy development, and the capability for critical thinking we find within our talent should be used for continuous reflection and improvement.

I ask our leaders to hire for attitude and train for skills. Knowing our ‘why’ and being able to explain it is key. If you can’t do this as a leader, how can you expect people to come with you? This requires a clear HR strategy and roadmap that supports leaders to address the employees’ questions and expectations. In future, leaders will be held much more accountable for the execution of our overall strategy execution, not just for delivering monthly KPIs.

How do you translate a vision into an HR strategy?

You need to start by thoroughly reviewing the business strategy and identifying what HR can bring to it. From there, you can derive the strategic pillars of an HR strategy, formulate it in simple terms and then check in with senior leaders to ensure it will meet their needs.

Next, you have to define and connect the company’s strategic projects with the HR and business strategy – to ensure one will help to achieve the other.

Next, it’s time to allocate your resources and critically review the HR Target Operating Model (TOM). What will best support the implementation of the HR strategy throughout each project? The maturity of HRIS will likely play a role, however, as part of the HR strategy, HRIS is surely identified. The Target Operating Model should be defined at the end state, so as part of the strategy implementation, TOM changes are considered.

Once an HR department has that foundation in place, you’re in a strong position to appoint people and finalise the HR roadmap as a team, with high-level milestones running until the end of the current strategy path.

Finally, you need to identify key stakeholders and create a communication plan. Continuation and follow-up should be half-yearly, with a major review at least every two years. And at every stage, three things are of the essence: communication, communication, and communication!

What’s most essential for creating a successful HR strategy?

It has to be getting the leadership’s buy-in. As an HR function, we support employees and leaders with processes that drive performance and cultural change. Without their support, HR won’t be as effective, or earn the mandate to execute its strategy. So we have to make sure that everything we do and everything we strive for aligns with organisational goals – again, it’s “why do we do what we do?”

Continuous communication is also key to demonstrating progress and added value within an HR strategy – whether you’re reaching out to stakeholders within or outside of the organisation.

Finally, you need to measure your progress – to better see where and how you can improve.  Engagement is a great measurable indicator of the evolution of company culture, leadership capabilities and general employment satisfaction. Lagging indicators such as sickness or staff turnover can also help narrow down areas for improvement.

What impact do you think AI will have on HR?

In general, AI will enable HR departments to automate transactional work. If you let AI learn about your internal policies, handbooks, regulations and code of conduct, it can play a powerful role in quickly answering questions from employees and managers.

AI is usually much faster than sending an email and waiting for the answer, and typically people who seek HR support want a quick response – so it’s a huge opportunity. We can also use it to standardise job descriptions and adverts, and over time, learn the company’s corporate language.

The disadvantage is the lack of emotional connection. The way AI writes is very homogenous, transactional and business-like – which is OK for some communications, but lacks authenticity when it comes to sharing recognition and praise.

If you tell an employee, “hey, job well done”, but you can't tell them why, then it's not meaningful to them – and that’s where you need to be very careful. That’s where people have the upper hand – because they can convey messages with specificity and human emotion.

Thank you to Pieter for speaking to Keely Straw, who manages our Human Resources recruitment team in Switzerland. 

Views and opinions contained within our Executive Interviews are those of the interviewee and not views shared by EMEA Recruitment. 

Cristina Stefan is a Global Finance Director for Orbia Building & Infrastructure (Wavin) – a global leader in innovative, healthy and sustainable solutions for the building and infrastructure industry. From clean water distribution to accessible sanitation, climate resilience to comfortable living spaces, Orbia B&I collaborate with municipal leaders, engineers, and contractors in 90+ countries worldwide, to future-proof communities and make a positive impact on people’s lives.

We took 30 minutes to tap into Cristina’s thoughts on diversity and inclusion, the skills that separate the good from the great in finance and her advice on standing out in an increasingly competitive job market.

How can leaders create diverse teams?

Firstly, I think you need open-minded leaders in place who truly and authentically believe in the power of diversity. Leaders who respect, empower and develop their employees inclusively, who recognise what makes each individual unique and can build on their core competencies and strengths.

Company culture is also hugely important. At Orbia B&I, embracing diversity is a core value – it’s embedded in everything we do and it’s constantly evolving. If you think about it, diversity is quite easy to measure – it’s looking at the gender of those in the top positions, how many people are with disabilities are hired, what’s our ethnicity split, what’s our LGBTQ+ representation, etc.

Less tangible – and therefore less easy to measure – is inclusion. For me, inclusion is the fuel that powers the diversity engine. It’s how we encourage our minority groups to collaborate and develop, feel valued, respected and empowered. Just one example would be looking at how we create equal opportunities and flexible working options for mothers returning to work after maternity leave – so they feel supported and able to thrive.

One of Orbia’s key success markers in improving diversity is to increase the representation of women and other underrepresented groups throughout the five business groups and leadership pipelines. To support us in achieving those objectives, the company has developed initiatives from talent acquisition guidelines to our Orbia Women’s Network (OWN) mentorship programme, which is helping to accelerate the development and visibility of female talent in what tends to be a very male-dominated industry. I’m a proud member and mentor myself – and because I’ve got mentees in different Orbia business groups, it brings great networking opportunities, too. It’s a good example of inclusion in action, because it encourages people to speak up, to turn challenges into opportunities with a positive mindset, show empathy and benefit from different perspectives. That blend of diversity and inclusion is how you create strong, brave teams and a working environment where everyone can perform at their best.

Which key drivers to success at Orbia B&I do you watch most?

Orbia is a proudly purpose-driven company – and at Orbia B&I, that purpose is to advance life around the world by building healthy, sustainable environments. Our employee value proposition is to bring this purpose to life. It’s a guiding principle for the way we think and act when facing some of the world’s greatest challenges, and it’s how we create products and services that improve people’s lives. For 60 years, we’ve delivered products, systems and services that create a safe & efficient water supply, better sanitation and hygiene and climate-resilient cities with advanced, energy-efficient buildings that enhance the indoor experience while minimising environmental impact. So sustainability is at the heart of what we do – and in tandem with ever-evolving innovation targets, we have multiple initiatives in place around reducing greenhouse gas emissions and waste, while improving energy efficiency.

I also keep a careful watch on B&I’s ability to adapt and flex – how well we’re optimising investments, and how agile we’re able to be in the face of market challenges, our ability to transform in order to perform, so to speak. Last but not least, giving the highest quality of service is always going to be hugely important – listening to our customers, meeting their needs and building strong relationships that stand the test of time.

What changes have you seen in the Netherlands employment market over the years – and what do you think has driven them?

It’s been nine years since I moved here – and in that time there’s been a noticeable shift. The market’s become much stronger and tighter, with more and more companies expressing a preference for native, Dutch speaking candidates over international talent. I can see the sense in this where a role requires lots of direct interaction with local authorities, or a strong working knowledge of Dutch legislation, but it could also be perceived as quite discriminatory. It’s so important to be consistent – and to promote diversity as a core company value (as many do), you have to walk the talk and demonstrate it.  

I’m proud that at Orbia, we’ll always encourage people with diverse backgrounds to apply, using our talent acquisition process to eliminate bias and create equal opportunities across the business. Following the pandemic in particular, we’ve also seen a much higher demand for flexibility and hybrid working, which has brought new matching challenges to the recruitment process – for all companies.

How do you foster a positive and productive work environment, especially in challenging times?

Through leading by example. For me, that means aligning what you say with what you do, aligning ‘what’ with ‘how’ and being authentic with your teams. You sometimes need to be brave and have difficult conversations – particularly if priorities and deadlines may affect an employee’s work/life balance. Sometimes those conversations are constructive, sometimes not – but you always learn from them. You also need to be willing to challenge the status quo – especially if you see a simpler way to achieve the same outcome. That’s always a win-win.

People respond more positively to you when you show empathy, vulnerability and implicit trust. When you treat your team as business partners, not simply as doers, and give them context, they’ll be far more motivated to walk the business mile with you.

How can a job seeker stand out in the current market?

You’ve got to be authentic – show a genuine interest in the role and the company, research the people who are interviewing you and have relevant questions up your sleeve. This is, of course, assuming you’ve reached the interview phase – which has become increasingly difficult lately with the rise of AI, even for really good quality candidates.

It’s something of a paradox that while authenticity is key, you need a CV that’s carefully tailored with key words and phrases that will pass automated screening. Given these challenges, networking and taking advantage of internal referral schemes is something I highly recommend – because this can enable you to skip the initial screening stage of the recruitment process altogether and get to talk to a person about your experience with a real chance of being able to influence the outcome

In an interview situation, I always appreciate assertiveness in a candidate – someone who knows when they need to pause and recalibrate in order to get their point across more directly. I also admire honesty and realness – answering questions in a concise way with examples, rather than giving a prefabricated speech, and sharing details about their personal life, hobbies etc.if they feel confident or comfortable with it.  This helps me work out whether they’ll be a good fit – not just culturally, but within the team.

So in a nutshell, my advice to potential candidates would be – dare to be different. Energise, engage and connect with your interviewer – don’t just answer their questions. And a smile goes a long way. Finally, treat rejections as opportunities to learn and improve, and send a thank you note to try to understand what you could have done differently to sharpen your gravitas next time.

How do you maintain a sense of joy and enthusiasm in your professional life?

For me, it’s seeing the bigger picture and my part in that – working with a sense of purpose, towards a greater good. Knowing the context – the ‘why’ – behind my work energises and motivates me. I need to feel engaged. From a practical point of view, I love finding ways to simplify complexity without lowering the bar. I love the feeling of building something and ‘making my mark’ – improving things and creating space for further growth. I’ll also find ways to celebrate small wins and practice gratitude, and I never underestimate the power of a thank you. Maintaining a good work-life balance also helps me stay ‘tuned’, in sync and enthusiastic about my professional world.

I’ve held numerous different finance roles throughout my career, which has taught me a lot about resilience – how to quickly learn and adapt to changing situations, whether that’s differing ways of working between industries, using new technologies or navigating company politics. Challenge and change are both huge motivators for me.

In your opinion, what are the most underrated skills or qualities in Finance?

So many people perceive finance as just number-crunching, but it’s about so much more than numbers. One of the most underrated skills is actually communication – telling the story behind the numbers. The ability to clearly and concisely explain complex financial issues to a diverse range of colleagues or customers (so that they truly understand) should not be underestimated.

Showing empathy is also key. Again, finance isn’t just about numbers – it’s about people too. Employees want to feel valued and part of a bigger story, not just enablers to achieve key deliverables faster. We have to engage, respect people’s time outside of office hours, check in and ask them how they’re feeling – not just when this or that project will be completed. Again, it’s about treating people as valued partners, rather than producers of data or analysis.   

We also need critical thinkers – people who can place financials within the wider context, understand what numbers tell you and how to convey that to different audiences, evaluate financial data, make sound judgements, identify patterns and outliers to assess risks, identify opportunities and solve complex problems. And finally, emotional intelligence goes a long way. When you’re able to put yourself in other people’s shoes and preempt their emotions, you foster better quality interactions, better teamwork and better outcomes all round.

How do you make sure your strategic decisions align with both Orbia’s values and market demands?

Every decision I make is guided by Orbia’s future-fit model – those non-negotiable expectations that the company has for its employees and leaders, expectations that will help us advance life around the world. It’s a structure that ensures we work safely, ethically and according to our values – Be Brave, Take Responsibility and Embrace Diversity.

Finance isn’t a back-office function at Orbia. We’re co-pilots and business partners, helping to steer the business by showing them trade-offs and helping them make key, financially sound decisions. To do this, we need people who share the same values – people with a can-do mindset, people who are ready to go the extra mile and who are excited to be part of a company that builds the future with the solutions it creates. So you need a structure, you need a core model – and you also need the right people to apply that model to make sound decisions day-to-day, in everything they do.

Thank you to Cristina for speaking to Hannah Mallia, Director in our Finance & Accountancy recruitment team in the Netherlands.

Views and opinions contained within our Executive Interviews are those of the interviewee and not views shared by EMEA Recruitment. 

Commercial and strategic finance leader Matthew Day is Head of Financial Planning & Analysis at Travix – a global online travel company headquartered in Amsterdam. Having spent the first 11 years of his career traversing business and finance roles at Nike, Matthew reflects on the benefits that came with making diagonal and horizontal moves – and shares the values that have shaped his open, collaborative management style.

Tell us about the most memorable moment in your career to date…

I made a few different moves throughout my time at Nike, but the most memorable was moving from my role in a centralized geography business unit to a much broader position in a territory as a functional lead (commercial finance). It was a move that got me into the thick of the business – much closer to the marketplace and the consumer, which I really wanted. It meant I had much greater exposure and visibility to others within the business, and it gave me a strong dotted line to the General Manager of that territory.

The GM already knew me and my background at Nike thus far, and that I was interested in stretching myself in roles beyond finance. There was no Commercial Director at the time, so she took a leap of faith and asked me if I could help fill that gap. I jumped at the chance and embraced it, and she trusted and encouraged me to take a steep learning curve, to make mistakes along the way and ultimately gave me a chance to grow and add value within the team.

It was challenging, but it gave me exposure to commerce, go-to-market processes, sales and account management, as well as marketing and inventory management – deepening my understanding of our product and the customer journey.

It also opened doors and proved to others that I was a credible leader outside of finance. This proved pivotal in my next position, when I moved back to the Nike brand into a commercial, strategic account management role. I had buyers I needed to work with to make sure we had a strong, commercial strategic plan – so I needed to understand upcoming products, how we were going to sell and market them, and lead a cross-functional virtual team.

What risks have you taken throughout your career and how did they help you grow?

Broadly speaking, it’s the fact that I chose not to take a conventional, vertical, upwards career path. I love business, so I didn’t want to specialise in finance – I wanted to build cross-functional relationships, learn and become the best generalist I could possibly be. It's helped me build credible relationships and have productive, constructive conversations with experts across functions, and taught me so much about different processes, businesses and industries.

I’ve seen my peers progress quickly within specific functions, which has felt disheartening at times – but I’m so glad I took the time and opportunities to move horizontally, and build a wider portfolio of whole-business knowledge and experience along the way.

What would you say is the most rewarding part of your role?

It’s the trust I’ve built – not just with my manager, but with my team too. It’s quite daunting coming into a new organisation, especially in an industry where you have limited experience. But I know the concepts of business, of account management, sales and marketing – and while the industry is different, the fundamentals remain the same. I’ve got ideas to put in place and I’m trusted to go ahead and act on them. That’s the most rewarding part – being challenged in exciting new ways and being part of the change.

What strategies would you suggest to someone who’s looking to pivot their career into a different industry?

It’s all about mindset. Finance professionals tend to be quite analytical, meaning we often focus on what’s wrong and how we can fix it. So if we’re looking to switch roles or functions, we’ll focus on the experience we don’t have – rather than the transferrable skills we do have, whether it’s the ability to manage stakeholders, to communicate, analyse, propose and influence… there’s so much you can carry over.

You need to focus on your strengths. If you focus on your weaknesses, all you’re going to do is make something that’s bad not-so-bad. Far better to hone your talents and turn good into great. That’s how you add value. And the things you’re not so good at? Well, that’s the beauty of a team.

Think of it like a game of football. You've got 11 players on the pitch and they're all there to win, but you don't want 11 goalkeepers playing in every position. Everybody has a different role to play. So, know what it is that you're good at and master it. Unless you're going into rocket science, it's not rocket science! There are always skills you can transfer.

What advice would you give to someone starting their career in financial planning?

It would be to look at it not just as a financial role but as an extended part of a cross-functional business team.

You’re a business partner who’s there to understand and communicate the financial implications of every decision that’s made. Every strategic move – whether that’s commercial, logistics or people-centred – comes back to the financials. So have an open mindset. Don't just see things in black and white. At the end of the year, if you don't hit the budget, it doesn't mean it's a failure. Things change along the way, and you've got to be able to adapt as you go.

Bear in mind, too, that the trajectory of your career won’t always be linear. For example, I've seen CFOs also work in sales, tech or IT – so starting in one area doesn’t mean you’ll stay there the entire time. Be open to working in and with different functions – you might just play a crucial role there that’ll make all the difference in your future development.

How do you anticipate the role of FP&A will evolve as AI and automation advances?

One word – data! I've been fortunate enough to work with dedicated financial operations data teams, and looking back now, I realise that they were world-class.

So, I can see that if you can work with and master accurate big data – data you can use end-to-end and integrate across all other parts of the business – that’s going to make the role of FP&A so much more effective. Why? Because you’ll spend less time ensuring the numbers are credible and more time actually analysing them – helping the business make better decisions off the back of what you learn.

What one piece of advice you would give your younger self or a young finance professional?

Take time to figure out who you are and be proud of that person. When you’re just starting out in your career and you meet senior leaders and executives, they can feel like rock stars – and that can be quite intimidating. People want to make a good impression, so sometimes they end up saying things or behaving in a way that isn't authentically them.

You have to focus on what you want, know your values and what it is you're willing to compromise on – and what you’re not.

I see a lot of young professionals saying they want a job “because it looks great”. But I’d ask, is it really what you want to do? Is it something that gives you energy and excites you? Why do you want to do it? If people are honest with themselves, they’re often surprised to discover that what they think they want isn’t actually what they do want. When you constantly question your motives, you can get clarity around what will truly motivate and fulfil you professionally.

How can leaders create diverse teams?

Firstly, you need to put trust in people, believe in them (sometimes more than they believe in themselves) and be willing to take a risk – just like my GM did with me back at Nike.

Some business leaders will bring in people who they've known for a long time and who they feel comfortable with – and while a lot of good can come from that, you risk ending up with a very closed collective mindset.

I think there are both business and cultural benefits to knowing your knowledge and skills gaps and taking risks – celebrating the strength in your existing team, and bringing in new people from different backgrounds, who can offer new perspectives and ways of working.

I also think it’s important to recruit with an open mind – looking for those all-important transferable skills rather than direct industry knowledge or specialisms. Take the risk on yourself, assess what’s missing from your team and don’t just go with the comfortable hire.

How do you foster a positive and productive work environment, especially in challenging times?

Throughout my career, I’ve been managed by people from different walks of life, with hugely differing experiences and perspectives. Some were quite militant and resistant to opening up – and the overall MO was “We need to get this done. Let's do it”.

Others have been more vulnerable. They'll say, “It's a stressful time. I get it and I'm in it with you. I’d love you to do the things that play to your strengths, and I’ll find a way to cover you in those weaker areas”. I’m a millennial manager, so this leadership style really resonates with me.

As a generation, I think we always want to make sure that people feel involved. So, I'm very open with my team. If things aren't ideal, I’ll tell them that. I’ll tell them we've got to make hard choices and that I'm making hard choices myself. It may not be the right choice, but I'm going to take a risk.

It's leading by example, but also showing that you don't have all the answers. And when you do that, you show your team that they don't need to, either. I’ll try to role-model the curiosity to find those answers, proactivity in who I speak to and where I go to find information. We’re people, not robots – so showing creativity and authenticity in the way you handle difficult situations makes all the difference when it comes to creating a positive and productive working environment.

What does the next five years look like for you in your career?

Honest answer – I don’t know.

When I was at university, I used to imagine all the things I would be doing in 5, 10, 15 years’ time. None of those things actually happened – and I think I’m better off for it.

Going right back to the beginning of my career as an intern at Nike, I was a sports-obsessed kid who just wanted to work for a big sports brand. I never set a goal to have the experiences that I ultimately did have, and I’m so thankful for the journey of discovery I went on.

So if I’m looking ahead, I’d say my aims are simple: to continue to being open to new experiences both at home and in work, to fine-tune and be clear on my values, what I'm good at, what I'm not good at, and be confident in that.

My North Star is General Management – but whether or not it happens in the next five years, I'm ok with that. I'll happily move sideways and ‘backwards’ if it keeps me learning. The world’s changing so quickly, you have to be present, stay curious and focus on growing as a human being. When you do that, new opportunities take care of themselves. That’s certainly been my experience over the past 15 years.

What does life outside of the office look like for you?

I’ve recently rediscovered my passion for tennis. Weirdly, when I worked for a sports company, I hardly played – and since leaving I’ve been on the court much more. It gives me so much energy and happiness – along with my dog, Jura , who’s the focal point of mine and my wife’s life.

As much as I want to do well in my career, I work to live – I don’t live to work. Time doesn’t go backwards, so I think it’s important to make the most of what we have. For me, that means being with my family, my wife and her family as much as I can.

Any final words of wisdom for our candidates?

The best managers are those who support your growth, and who help you tap into the things that have helped them in their career.

I've seen people who want to leave a company be treated as outsiders – like they’re not loyal, or only loyal to themselves and their own growth. But I believe it’s our job as both managers and as human beings to put ourselves in other people’s shoes and make them feel good about wanting to develop.

I once admitted to a past manager that I no longer felt I was learning in my role – despite being happy, enjoying what I did and liking the people I worked with. Their reaction was, “let's find those opportunities. And if you need me to share the details of people or agencies who work in this function or this industry, I'll do that for you”.

Having that conversation was so refreshing, because as hard as it was, they didn’t take it personally. I’ve been heavily influenced by that experience, and I encourage every manager to think just as objectively. Just because your star employee is leaving, if you do the right thing and show you trust in them, they’re far more likely to stay in touch and want to work with you again.

Thank you to Matthew for speaking to Kieran Hayes, Recruitment Consultant in our Finance & Accountancy recruitment team in the Netherlands.

Views and opinions contained within our Executive Interviews are those of the interviewee and not views shared by EMEA Recruitment.